This was a solid book! I like how it talks about people who stay in a small town versus those who leave, I love the concept of one impulsive decision changing everything, and I especially loved how Chris ingratiates himself into the lives of Lark and Mikki in both timelines. The pacing was sometimes off, and the way early-stage dementia was portrayed was kind of off-putting, but otherwise this was a pretty good story about friendship in the face of tragedy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. I don't read mysteries or suspense as much as I probably would enjoy, so this was a nice break from my usual fare.

I found this novel quite predictable, I guessed the ending quite quickly into the book. I enjoyed the dual timeline of the book so that information was given in drips and drabs.

This book ended up being a pleasant surprise for me! While I was intrigued by the premise of Catch You Later back when I added it in May, I confess that I was a bit worried that my particularly fickle current reading mood would end up clashing with this story. With the deadline looming, I decided to give it a go anyway... And the plot ended up being surprisingly engaging and addictive despite the sometimes slower pace. I simply HAD to know what happened to Mikki back then!

Catch You Later uses a dual timeline and POV structure, switching between Mikki's POV back in 2016 and Lark's POV in 2024. Dual timelines can go both ways for me as I often enjoy one much over the other, but in this case the two storylines only complemented each other. The whole mystery around what happened to Mikki back in 2016 added so much suspense to both POVs, and it kept me turning those pages even though the pace was quite slow in parts. The building up of suspense is very cleverly done, and I never did see the full truth about it all coming.

I'm keeping this review short to avoid spoilers, because this is one of those books where it's best to go in blind to properly enjoy the ride. Catch You Later is mostly psychological thriller with quite some drama along the way, but Mikki's disappearance is always front and center. Mikki's POV is particularly effective as you keep wondering what will happen that make her disappear, so even the most innocent mention turns into something suspicious... And I love when a story keeps me on my toes. Lark's POV has a different feel to it, but it really helped balancing the whole story out for me.

Things can be said about the final twists being a bit too farfetched to be credible, and I wish there would have been a more logical explanation to it all. BUT. Somehow the ending didn't bother me too much either, as I had too much fun during the journey itself. Both Mikki and Lark are flawed characters that developed over time, and while some of their actions are frustrating, it was still quite easy to root for them both. The side characters were great as well!

If you enjoy an engaging and suspenseful psychological thriller that offers a missing character, drama and a dual timeline structure, Catch You Later is definitely a great option.

This novel was exciting and interesting. The characters were exceptional and unique.
Alot of suspense and thrill. I would recommend this novel.

Very slow moving and I didn’t find myself caring about many of the characters. The ending was not really a big reveal or twist

This twisty, tantalizing tale of friendship, big dreams and bigger risks will keep you up turning pages far into the night. Jessica Strawser is a master plot weaver. I encourage you to dive into Catch You Later when you don't have anything pressing to do, because you will want to devour it until you have answered the story's big question. (No spoilers)

There are two 3rd person POVs and two timelines: Mikki's, who takes off one night in 2016, leaving her phone behind, slipping into the car of a strange attractive man, bidding her best friend Lark, "Catch you Later!" Then there's Lark's in 2024, mourning for Mikki, who has never returned. Lark has gone as far as hiring a shady PI, without any luck, but has never given up on finding her friend. When the stranger returns one night, asking after Mikki, Lark realizes that everything she had inferred about Mikki's disappearance is wrong.

I loved the skillful way Strawser dances back and forth between the two POVs: teasing out what happened to Mikki in real time, as Lark unpacks the past. The pacing is so wonderful, I found myself hanging on every word!

Don't miss this one. Thank you to Lake Union and NetGalley for a delightful early read!

After reading this book, I had to look for the author to give a shoutout because it was an amazing read.

Catch You Later talks of friendship that becomes sisterhood and I could relate. It also talks of loss and the difficulties faced in adulthood, how so many decisions are wrong but choosing not to make them is not so much of a choice.

I like how the story ended. The bad guy was found out and the good guy was forgiven. Funny enough the characters I'm referring to are females.

This book has an interesting premise. I think I was expecting Gone Girl but it wasn't that. It was an interesting dual POV of best friends, Lark in the present, and Mikki in 2016. The characters were almost interesting, but I feel I was missing details. I couldn't really picture them because there were not a lot of descriptors. I guess that could allow the reader to relate more to the characters and see themselves in them? Chris seemed too affable of a guy. Like maybe another manic pixie dream beau. I was pulling for Mikki to be ok, and the reason for her disappearance was kind of a let down. I really felt for Lark. But on the other hand I really didn't feel the relationship between her and Hank. I was told it was there, but didn't feel it. Perhaps because it was a red herring? I don't know. This was a but of a letdown. The pacing was inconsistent. There was so much anxiety and tension built that it got to a "come on already" place. Too slow a burn for the payoff. I could see this concept being better as a miniseries in the vein of White Lotus (season 2). 3 stars. Thanks to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

4 kept me guessing stars

In this unique suspense novel, we get to know Lark and Mikki, two best friends, until one of them disappears one day!

The young women live in a dead-end town, working dead-end jobs at a travel stop. One night, a man stops by for caffeine and gas and starts talking to Mikki. He invites her to join him on the drive from Ohio to Florida for a destination family wedding. On a wild impulse, Mikki decides to go and does not return when she says she will be back.

Lark is devastated and fears that her friend is dead. She starts an online campaign and searches for her. As the years go by, all seems lost. Eight years later, that mystery man arrives at the travel stop looking for Lark and Mikki. As everything is stirred up again, nothing makes sense to Lark.

We also get alternating chapters from Mikki and her adventure to Florida. She’s awed to see the ocean for the first time but doesn’t feel like she fits in with the crowd there.

I felt the tension building as I wondered what happened to Mikki in Florida.

This is my sixth book by this author and I really enjoy her books. I’ll definitely catch you later Jessica Strawser!

Every time I begin a new Jessica Strawser novel, I remember just how much I love her writing. It’s always so engaging and compelling, and I love that her books are women’s fiction with a beating heart of suspense. The mystery at the core of this one—what happened to Lark’s best friend after she left with a man she’d just met eight years ago?—kept me glued to the pages, but as with all of Strawser’s books, it was the moving emotional story that will especially stick with me. There were so many interesting relationships in this book, and even when the characters were GOING THROUGH IT, there was a comfort in reading it BECAUSE of those relationships. Once again, I’m left excited for whatever Strawser writes next.

3.5 rounded up

Lark Nichols and Mikki Jensen are best friends who grew up together and now work together, on the night shift of a Travel Stop along the highway of their small Ohio town.

They once had big dreams of moving away but as they fast approach their 30th birthdays are starting to feel “stuck” despite having always lived by their only TWO rules-Say YES, and Keep your eyes open for a ride out!

So when a stranger in a BMW stops in one night for coffee, and after a brief conversation, invites Nikki to tag along with him to a wedding in Florida, she concludes that it may be her first, and last opportunity to ever see the ocean, and with a breezy “Catch You Later” she impulsively removes her apron and hops in-leaving an incredulous, and pregnant Lark behind.

Mikki never returns.

Fast forward eight years and Lark is finally moving forward. She lives with and helps care for, Mikki’s prickly grandmother Nini, while raising her daughter, Dove as a single mom. And, she has recently gotten engaged to wonderful guy, who has embraced his new “ready made” family.

But, then the STRANGER who drove away with Mikki returns to the Travel Stop asking for her.

Nobody knows what to believe as the search is reopened.

The book alternates between Lark-NOW and Mikki-THEN chronicling what happened from the time Mikki climbed into the car.

I LOVED this ORIGINAL premise and was RIVETED -expecting an 5 star read! But, around the midway point of the story the pace slowed and I guess I wanted MORE from the ending.

Although it’s not a new favorite book by the author, Jessica Strawser remains a favorite author of SUSPENSE for me, and I look forward to whatever she pens next!

AVAILABLE October 22, 2024

THANK YOU to Lake Union Publishing for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

Thank you to @netgalley and @LakeUnionPub for this ARC. Lark and Mikki are thick as thieves. They live together and work together at the Truck Stop. In walk Chris who takes a quick liking to Mikki. Being crazy and spontaneous, Mikki decides to join Chris on a road trip from Ohio to his sister's wedding in Florida. Fast forward eight years and Mikki never made it back home. However, in walks Chris into the same Truck Stop looking for her. He says he rented her a car to drive home as soon as the wedding was over and had no clue she never made it back but things don't add up. Can Lark finally get to the bottom of Mikki's disappearance? I had inklings of the ending but wasn't sure. This was a good read!!! #CatchYouLater #JessicaStrawser #LakeUnionPublishing #Oct2024.

Catch You Later drove me crazy! But in a good way. Part of the story is set in the past when one of the main characters goes missing and the rest is present day when the best friend is trying to find out what happened all those years ago. The chapters alternate between the two timelines, and this made me feel anxious as I was reading it because I needed to know what happened! I was almost frantic the closer I got to the end. You should definitely check this out. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was instantly drawn to this book because…. Missing person, last person seen with her shows up looking for her…. What’s not to be drawn to about that?! This was told in dual POV and it worked great for this story. I was drawn to both Lark and Mikki. Their stories were each well-told, and the suspense in this book was just right. This book deals with friendship, the ties that bind, and why people do what they do. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Catch You Later by Jessica Strawser is a captivating, suspenseful novel that I really enjoyed!

The story is about Mikki and Lark, best friends living in their small town.
Mikki makes one decision that changes her whole life. She joins a stranger in a BMW who invites her to a wedding in Florida. She has never been, and she just wants to get out of her town so she goes with Chris. Mikki never returns and 7 years later Chris returns looking for Mikki as well. WHAT!?!

The story is told in present tense and back to 2014 when Mikki had left with Christ.

I loved this suspenseful story. I think this is the author's best yet, and I have read all her books!

The characters are well written, complex, and flawed.

The family dynamics are well written and intense. But its the mystery that really kept me turning the pages.

So well done, can't recommend this book enough!

Liked it! Mostly an intriguing and heartwarming story.

Energy: Sentimental. Delicate. Capricious.

🐕 Howls
The wedding family dynamics and twists was a little confusing/boring, but it wasn’t poorly done, I think I just wasn’t feeling rich people drama at the time.

🐩 Tail Wags
Mysterious intriguing storyline. Invested in the mystery and the characters. Stayed away from cartoony Big Bads or villain monologues. Nini’s quips. Using fake outs to drive the plot without it feeling like just trying to trick the reader. Knowing more than any one character and still trying to piece together what happened.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in a small Ohio town and a resort on a Florida island.
Perspectives (2): Two best friends working at a truck stop in a small town nearing 30 and still no closer to achieving their dreams. One wants to see the world and experience life but has an ailing grandmother to care for. The other is mourning an unrequited love but as a soon-to-be-parent they need to stay in the town to provide for their child.
Timeline: October 2016. March 2024.
🔥 Fuel: Emotional investment in characters. Character journey. Intriguing mystery. What happened to the friend that took a stranger up on their offer to travel together? Will the friend left behind ever find out?
📖 Cred: Plausible

Mood Reading Match-Up:
BMW convertible. Fluorescent lights. CCTV. Target. Mop water. Post-its. Gas station coffee. Elegant white string lights. Ocean waves.
· Fake dating-ish
· Tagging along, reader knows more than the characters narratives
· Books to read on a road trip
· Character circumstances study
· Money can’t buy happiness
· Complicated characters you can root for
· Immersive settings and vibes
· The Struggle is Real and Can Money Buy Happiness social commentary
· Are-you-still-the-one romantic tension
· Dysfunctional rich family drama
· Light-hearted contemporary fiction friendship study beginnings
· Popcorn thriller-esque endings with fast paced twists and turns

Content Heads-Up: Mild cognitive impairment, dementia. Pregnancy (single parent). Infidelity (brief). Loss of parent (as adult). Natural disaster (forest fire; off page). Opioid addiction (off page). Pills, alcoholism. Violence (physical fighting). Drunk driving (very brief; off page). Parental rejection, abandonment. Missing parent. Financial insecurity. Suicide (implied). Murder. Blackmail, threats. Victim blaming/dismissal by authorities. Classism.

Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Ambiguous skin tones.

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Have you ever wanted to just drive away from your life and find something better? This is what Mikki does! When a good looking guy shows up at her rest stop job and offers her to the opportunity to see the world, Mikki jumps in the car and leaves everything behind, never to return. The story toggles between the story of those left behind trying to go on without her - her best friend Lark and her grandmother - and the story of what happens after Mikki gets into that car with Chris. Even though the beginning of the story seemed a bit slow, it quickly got more mysterious and really drew me in. Who was sending Lark the messages to stay away? Why did Chris come back now? Is Mikki still alive? The twist at the end was a surprise that I did not see coming! I really enjoyed this book and have now added this author to my list of favorites! Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy to read.

Catch You Later is a beautifully written story about the power of female friendships. There’s a compelling mystery, emotional depth and tightly plotted twists, but where this book really shines is its characters. Mikki, who disappears after a stranger comes to town, and Lark, left behind to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Jessica Strawser’s Catch You Later is a gripping tale of friendship, loss, and the relentless pursuit of truth. This novel, set in a small, seemingly unremarkable town, unravels a powerful story of two best friends whose lives are forever changed by one impulsive decision.

 The story revolves around Lark and Mikki, two inseparable friends working the night shift at a highway travel stop. Their lives take a dramatic turn when Mikki, on a whim, leaves with a stranger heading to Florida and disappears without a trace. Eight years later, Lark is trying to rebuild her life, caring for Mikki’s grandmother and raising her young daughter. 

 Strawser excels in crafting deeply relatable characters. Lark is a resilient and determined protagonist, whose journey from guilt and suspicion to strength and clarity is both compelling and heart-wrenching. Her relationship with Mikki’s grandmother adds a layer of emotional depth, highlighting themes of loyalty and familial bonds.

The small-town setting plays a crucial role in the narrative, with its close-knit community and underlying tensions providing a rich backdrop for the unfolding drama. Strawser’s vivid descriptions bring the town to life, making it feel both familiar and claustrophobic. 

 Catch You Later explores themes of friendship, betrayal, and the search for truth. Strawser’s writing is both engaging and evocative, with a keen eye for detail and a talent for building suspense. The novel’s pacing is expertly managed, with twists and turns that keep readers guessing until the very end. 

 Catch You Later is a standout novel that combines psychological suspense with a poignant exploration of human relationships. Jessica Strawser has crafted a story that is both thrilling and emotionally rich, making it a must-read for fans of mystery and contemporary fiction. The novel’s intricate plot, well-drawn characters, and atmospheric setting make it a compelling and unforgettable read.

Title: Catch You Later
Author: Jessica Strawser
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pub Date: October 22, 2024
My Rating: 3.4 Stars
Pages: 352

Lark Nichols and Mikki Jensen live in a small town and both work at an interstate ‘Travel Shop’ One evening Mikki was working the night shift and got talking to a stranger who was heading for Florida. They got talking and Mikki makes the decision to go with him – that was eight years ago.

Lark had to pick up the pieces after Mikki left. She is doing the best she can for the sake of her young daughter Dove as well as care for Mikki’s loveable yet described as a ‘cranky old bat’ grandma Nini.
Lark is happy to be in a relationship actually engaged to the nicest guy.

When the stranger who drove Mikki away reappears and asks for Lark.

Story was a ‘slow burn’ but I have read and enjoyed other [author: Jessica Strawser|1056657]’s stories; so did trust her story would end up being good.

I read a lot of thriller so I kept analyzing what I thought was happening!!
Of course, didn’t get it exactly correct.

Acknowledgements/Author’s Note~ I always enjoy reading what inspired an author to write a story -it is such fun getting the inside scoop. Additional I found the ‘Reading Group Discussion Guide interest. I believe readers will as well even if they aren’t in a book club. .
One of the questions:
Do you believe Mikki was reckless walking out of her shift or was she fulfilling a promise she had made to herself, no matter the risk?

Want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 22, 2024.